The Human Division #11: A Problem of Proportion Read Online Free PDF

opened the door to the box, again carefully, to avoid dislodging any part of the contents. “Between you, me and Carn, we’re the very model of cooperation that suggests all of our nations may yet live in peace and harmony.”
    “Sarcasm is not exclusive to humans,” Werd said, “but I will admit you do a good job with it.”
    Wilson said nothing to that. Instead he peered intently into the box.
    “What is it?” Werd asked. Wilson motioned with his head that Werd should come closer. Werd did.
    Wilson had separated a thick tangle of wires that plugged into the container holding Rayth Ablant’s brain and nervous system to get a look at where the power cords entered the box. Where they entered was indeed what looked like a power buffer, to store a minute or so of energy to assist with an orderly system shutdown in case of loss of power.
    There was something else attached to the power buffer as well.
    “Ah,” Werd said. Wilson nodded. “Carn,” Werd said, into his communication circuit.
    “Yes, Lieutenant,” Carn said.
    “Lieutenant Wilson and I realized we’ve forgotten some tools, and we’re going to need to you to come help us with them,” Werd said. “Head back toward the shuttle. We’ll meet you there.”
    “Sir?” Carn said, slightly confused.
    “Acknowledge the order, Corporal,” Werd said.
    “Order acknowledged,” Carn said. “On my way.”
    Is everything all right.
    “Everything is fine,” Wilson said, to Rayth Ablant. “I just realized some things in your internal structure here are going to be trickier to deal with than others. I need some different tools. We need to go back to the Nurimal for them. We’ll return momentarily.”
    Makes sense to me. Don’t be gone too long. The ship is already beginning to shut down.
    “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Wilson said. “It’s a promise.”
    Rayth Ablant said nothing. Wilson and Werd made their way silently to the shuttle rendezvous; they and Carn made their way back to the shuttlecraft without an additional word.
    When the shuttlecraft was on its way, Wilson opened a channel to the Clarke . “Hart,” he said, to Schmidt, “you need to get Abumwe over to Nurimal . Be there as soon as possible. We have a wrinkle. A really big damn wrinkle.” He cut the connection before Schmidt could respond and turned to Werd. “I need you to get your people to get me a schematic of the Urse Damay ’s power systems. There are things I need to know. Right now.”
    “We might not have them,” Werd said. “The Urse Damay ’s not part of the Conclave military fleet.”
    “Then I need one of your engineers to explain how Conclave power systems work. We can do that, at least, right?”
    “I’m on it,” Werd said, and opened up a channel to the Nurimal .
    Carn looked at the two of them, saw their expressions. “What happened?” he asked.
    “We’re dealing with complete assholes,” Wilson said.
    “I thought we knew that,” Carn said.
    “No, this is new,” Wilson said. “There’s a bomb attached to the power supply on that box. The one Rayth Ablant is in. It looks like it’s set to go off if anything happens to the power going into the box. If we move Rayth Ablant, he’s going to die.”
    “If we don’t move him, he’s going to die,” Carn said. “His power supply is running out.”
    “And now you know why I said we’re dealing with complete assholes here,” Wilson said. He was silent the rest of the way to the Nurimal .

    It’s just you this time.
    “Yes,” Wilson said to Rayth Ablant.
    That’s not a good sign, I think.
    “I told you I would be back,” Wilson said.
    You’re not going to lie to me, are you.
    “You said you liked that I wasn’t like the humans you had heard about,” Wilson said. “So, no, I’m not going to lie to you. But you have to know that the truth is going to be hard to hear.”
    I am a brain in a box. The truth is already hard to hear.
    Wilson smiled. “That’s a very philosophical way of